A worldwide search begins for Paul McCartney’s lost violin

(CNN) — It was announced as an attempt to solve one of the great mysteries of the world Rock and Roll Music.

A worldwide search is on for a bass guitar that once belonged to Paul McCartney and appeared on many of the Beatles’ hits, including “Twist And Shout”, “Love Me Do” and “She Loves You”.

This instrument, a Hofner 500/1 electric bass, was purchased by McCartney for about $37 in 1961 in a Hamburg shop and is said to be his “favourite”, according to The Lost Bass Project, which initiated the new search. .

“This is the bass that McCartney played…in Hamburg in 1961, in Liverpool’s Cavern and on the early Abbey Road records—it fueled Beatlemania and shaped the sound of the modern world,” stated the Lost Bass Project.

The group, made up of a team of Beatles fans and researchers, noted that McCartney had used it in London in 1969, when the band was recording the Get Back/Let It Be project, and that it had not been seen since. .

No one came to say clearly where the bass was kept […] “No one has come forward with an account of what happened to him,” the group said, adding that his disappearance has fueled rumours, conspiracy theories and false sightings “for the past 55 years.”

The group said, “The shady world of stolen guitars is now full of fake and imitation guitars. All sorts of rumors have been popping up about where the bass is and where it could be.”

Al lanzar el proyecto este domingo, el groupo dijo que estaban “llevando a cabo una investigación específica basada en la información y las percepciones existentes” y que ahora estaban en medio de “reunir y responder a la nueva información y las percepciones compartidas por personas de everyone.”

Paul McCartney has given us so much over the past 62 years. [Este] The Project is our chance to give back to you. If you have reliable information about bass, this is your chance to share it and become a part of music history.”

British group Rock and Roll Music The Beatles performing at a club before signing their first recording contract, in Liverpool, England, in 1962. (Photo: Hulton Archives/Getty Images)

“The most important bass in history”

The public call for the project went live on September 3, and according to the group, hundreds of new tracks have already been received.

The Hofner research project is being led by Nick Wass, who has worked closely with McCartney’s team and has even written a book about the missing machine.

“It is very likely that it was stolen,” Wass said in a statement posted on the project’s website. “Someone somewhere knows what happened to that bass and where it is now.”

He added, “Paul would be very happy and excited if that bass got him back.” “I know because I talked to him about it.”

But the musical detective team is hopeful.

“Lost guitars can be found,” he said, citing in particular a Gibson J-160E acoustic that once belonged to John Lennon and disappeared during a show in 1963, only to reappear 51 years later.

“Plus, it was so distinctive, there’s never been a 1/500 bass like it,” says the company.

To aid your search, the company has provided a list of specifications to look for if you think you’ve found a lost McCartney instrument, including a solid spruce top and 3-piece neck, as well as “two pickups with diamonds.” The slogan and no necks.

The group says that another “clear evidence” is Hofner’s logo, “which is written vertically on the headstock of the original model, but horizontal in later versions played by McCartney”.

But it may end up looking completely different, because it has been missing for decades.

The company adds: “The bass was in need of repairs, so it was sent to a firm in London, in early 1964, who had it done. They repainted the bass a darker three-part shade and installed new knobs.”